Testament Tuesday – Know God Better
Do you sometimes feel like God is nowhere to be found in your life? Like He somehow abandoned you during your time of need. Sometimes it can feel this way, like we’re patiently waiting for God to swoop in and come to us. It’s thinking like that that gets us nowhere. There’s a story about footprints in the sand where a man dreamed that he was walking on the beach along with God. While he was walking he noticed that through times of his life (the good and bad) there were always two sets of footprints, meaning God was always with him. But then there were also times when the man noticed that during the darkest and lowest times of his life there were only one set of footprints, it was as if the man was all of a sudden walking all alone.
So the man asked God about it saying “God, you told me if I followed you that you’d always walk beside me. But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life, there was only one set of footprints. I don’t understand why, when I needed you the most, you were not there for me.”
Want to know God’s response to this? He responded with, “Oh precious child, I love you and never left you. When you were fine & healthy, I used to walk besides you. So the extra pair of footprints was visible. When you saw only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you during your tough times. Whenever you were in difficulties and problems, I was still protecting you.”
God is ALWAYS with us, we just have to walk with Him. It’s up to us to draw close to God and that’s through His word. He anxiously awaits a deep and meaningful personal relationship with you, but He won’t force it. We have to be willing to seek and get to know Him. It’s when we seek Him that we can know in full certainty that He carries us through all hard times. All of us go through difficult and tough situations and don’t always have a sense of God’s presence. However, if we look back through those hard times we can most certainly see God’s hand solving the problem and us coming through the trials stronger than before.
We might not see God in the moment, but we know He’s there. Guiding and helping us overcome even the hardest situations. It’s when we get to know Him better through His word that we are given the inner strength and courage to deal with the most difficult situations life could throw at us.
God is always available; we just have to respond to His open invitations. Go to Him. Open our hearts to His word. All it takes is our time and attention – reading and understanding His word, talking to Him through prayer, and praising Him in all situations.
“Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord.. All the while, you will learn to know God better and better.”
– Colossians 1:10
